BREAKING - 1,000 jobs on way as Knottingley Power Station plans approved

Sam Cooper

Plans for a gas-fired power station in Knottingley - which will create more than 1,000 jobs - have been given the go ahead.

The Department for Energy and Climate Change has today (Tuesday) granted development consent for the Knottingley Power Project which will see the power station built on the site of the former Oxiris Chemical Works on Common Lane.

The development would feature a combined cycle gas turbine power plant and create around 1,000 construction jobs and 50 full-time positions once operational in 2018.

Knottingley councillor Graham Stokes said: “This is fantastic news for Knottingley. It’s going to bring jobs to the town and they are well-paid jobs as well which will help boost trade in the town.

“Well-paid jobs then means people have more money to spend in local shops and business and this helps bring prosperity to the town. This development will also tap into a skill set that’s already there from when the site was a chemical works so it’s an ideal replacement.

“It really is great news for the town.”

The power station would use gas from an underground pipeline to power more than two million homes.

The eight-kilometre long pipeline would be built to connect the 70-metre-high power plant to the national gas transmission network’s pipeline near Gateforth.

The proposed combined cycle gas turbine power station will use natural gas, the same fuel used by many people for cooking and heating homes across the UK, to produce electricity.

Simon Ridley, the Planning Inspectorate’s chief executive, said:“This is the 36th application for a nationally significant infrastructure project to be examined by The Planning Inspectorate. The examination, recommendation and decision have been within the statutory timescales laid down in the Planning Act 2008.”

“Local people, the local authority and other interested parties were able to participate in the six-month long examination. This, together with the certainty of knowing when a decision will be made, provides confidence in the planning process and aide the infrastructure improvements this country needs to secure its energy and future economic growth.”